S. Africa neo-Nazi freed from jail
(CNN) -- South African white extremist leader Eugene TerreBlanche, jailed for attempting to murder a black security guard in 1996, has been released from prison on parole.
A small group of supporters of his right-wing, neo-Nazi Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement or AWB), greeted TerreBlanche upon his release on Friday.
Immediately upon his release, the 60-year-old TerreBlanche mounted a black stallion for a parade through the streets of Potchefstroom, a conservative town about 100km (60 mile) west of Johannesburg.
"It's the best way to say hello to him and welcome him back into the community," said Dave Engelbrecht, who brought TerreBlanche's favorite horse "Atilla" for his release, according to Reuters.
TerreBlanche saluted several of his supporters, who waved red flags emblazoned with the AWB's swastika-like symbol.
The AWB used terrorist tactics in a bid to stall South Africa's first all-race vote in 1994.
More than 20 people were killed when the group set off a wave of bombs on the eve of the elections. More than three dozen of its members were arrested.
TerreBlanche was convicted of attempting to murder Paul Motshabi, a black man who worked as a security guard on TerreBlanche's farm. He served about two-thirds of a five-year sentence.
He also was convicted of setting his dog on another black man in an earlier incident.
Prior to his jailing, TerreBlanche had been calling the shots at the AWB -- the most radical wing of Afrikaner nationalists -- for 20 years.
The AWB sought an autonomous state for the Dutch-descended white settlers of South Africa.
In 1994, TerreBlanche and his supporters promised a race war but the threats proved empty as Nelson Mandela's African National Congress took power.
TerreBlanche is expected to try and re-launch the AWB after years in hibernation in South Africa's decade long democracy.
